News

Monster movies are monster movies in any language. While we wait for an English subtitled version of the trailer for Danny's Dommedag ((Danny's Doomsday), you can now sit back, relax, and check out the first stills and international goodies right here. Yep, we're interested!

Martin Barnewitz (Messengers 2: The Scarecrow, Room 205) directs the Danish monster movie, which stars William Jøhnk J. Nielsen, Lars Mikkelsen, and Camilla Bendix.

Synopsis

Due to climate change a new race of flesh-eating predators arise, who invade and eat everything living on earth. In a residential neighbourhood in a Danish suburb, nightmare-like scenes are being experienced first-hand through the eyes of Danny and William Grahn, two teenage brothers who can’t stand each other but are now suddenly forced to barricade themselves in the basement together to avoid getting eaten.

From one day to another, without parents and without electricity, food, water, and contact with other people,...

Stuffed with straw, dressed in rags and left to twist in the breeze, the typical mild-mannered scarecrow may not be built to frighten anything larger than your average feathered pest... but that hasn't stopped these eerie effigies from coming to life in our nightmares. For generations, this image of the harvest has been associated with the darker, colder days to come, so it wasn't long before spooky tales were being spun about evil scarecrows wandering the fields, intent on reaping something more substantial than corn. Cinematic scarecrows have come a long way since the lovable Wizard of Oz character, but some of them might still be looking for a brain... maybe even the one that's still in your skull. Let's look at some of the all-time scariest movie scarecrows ever to stalk the fields by moonlight... “Bubba” (Dark Night of the Scarecrow, 1981) This chilling made-for-tv classic presents one of the...

Topping the "Kill Count" promotion they ran last year, Crackle is celebrating the Halloween season with "Kill Count 2," featuring over 30 gut-wrenching, gore-filled films that are full of outrageous horror moments. Read on for the details!

From the Press Release:

Crackle, the multi-platform entertainment network, is launching a deadly collection of horror films for a second year in a row, titled “Kill Count 2.” Featuring a select group of 30+ horrifying, gut-wrenching and gore-filled horror films, “Kill Count 2” surpasses last year’s chilling assortment of outrageous horror movie moments. Click here to visit “Kill Count 2” on Crackle.

For the ten days leading up to Halloween, beginning Monday, October 22, users will be able to watch and discuss their favorite “kills” presented in the “Kill Count 2” collection on Crackle. The collection of films in “Kill Count 2” will boast more than 300 “kills” including multiple impalements, head explosions, electrocutions and even a handful of bat digestions … all for one bloody good time.

We at Blogomatic3000 love our horror movies, so it’s fitting that we get the chance to bring you the schedule for FEARnet’s exclusive Halloween horror movie extravaganza! So if you’re looking for a good scare in the month of October, read on to see just what FEARnet has planned for you!

On Sunday, October 30th at 9:00 p.m. Et, FEARnet will air a special Halloween episode of Psychoville, the award-winning British black-comedy thriller series written by and starring Reece Shearsmith (Shaun of the Dead) and Steve Pemberton (The League of Gentlemen, Doctor Who). In the Halloween special, four tales of terror unfold as a film crew investigates the abandoned ruins of Ravenhill Psychiatric hospital.

On Halloween, FEARnet will air an all-day marathon of Trick ‘r Treat, starring Anna Paquin (True Blood), Brian Cox (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Leslie Bibb (Zookeeper). Michael Dougherty...

Below is the latest interview with writer Todd Farmer who has written such films as Drive Angry 3D, Messengers 2: The Scarecrow, My Bloody Valentine, The Messengers and Jason X. He has been pushing his version of H3 for months now and these are the latest details on what the story would actually imply after Rob Zombie's "Halloween II." Collider: Where would your take on Halloween fall between the original feel of it and what Rob Zombie created?…...

Rift In the terrifying tradition of such horror classics as The Blair Witch Project and The House on Haunted Hill comes an all new chilling tale that's sure to give you goosebumps from director LazRael Lison of "Rift". Featuring an all star cast that includes Leslie Easterbrook (Halloween), Richmond Arquette (Scream 3), Tom Wright (Barbershop), Ali Costello (Monster Man) and Darcy Fowers (Messengers 2: The Scarecrow), Rift is sure to be an adrenaline rush that will leave you chilled to the bone.   

Rift deals with an incident in 2001 where several college students were brutally murdered inside a newly refurbished Town Creek Apartments. To this day, there is still no definite answers. Jennifer Campbell, a graduate student with aspirations of a journalistic career who's eager to prove herself, amasses evidence that convinces her even more of the dark history surrounding the town. After forcing her way into the building, it doesn't...

Among the eight films debuting in theaters January 28 from After Dark Originals , one is going to take another stab at the scarecrow sub-genre. Hear that groan? It's the sound of horror fans collectively reflecting on dour scarecrow fare like 1995's Night of the Scarecrow or 2004's Scarecrow Gone Wild . Granted, fans have had to take the good ( Dark Night of the Scarecrow ) with the bad ( Messengers 2: The Scarecrow ), and Brett Simmons, the director of the upcoming Husk , is well aware of this. With his film, he hopes to remove the stigma usually afflicting scarecrow-themed horror stories. Simmons film began as a short that played to Sundance audiences. When After Dark came a-callin', he was given a chance to expand the Husk 's story and attach Wes Chatham, Devon Graye...

Watch a bunch of behind the scenes videos featuring Robert Pattinson from the biographical drama “Little Ashes” by director Paul Morrison and starring Javier Beltran, Matthew McNulty (Messengers 2: The Scarecrow), Marina Gatell and Robert Pattinson (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1) as Salvador Dali. Synopsis: In 1922, Madrid is wavering on the edge of change as traditional values are challenged by the dangerous new influences of Jazz, Freud and the avant-garde. Salvador Dali arrives at the university; 18 years old and determined to become a great artist. His bizarre blend of shyness and rampant exhibitionism attracts the attention of two of the university’s social [...]...

Stage 6 Films is gearing up for an August shoot for Hostel: Part III. Stage 6 is the direct to dvd division of Sony Home Entertainment, is responsible for such home video releases as Zombie Strippers!, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, Boogeyman 3, Vacancy 2: The First Cut, The Grudge 3, Messengers 2: The Scarecrow, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day and 30 Days of Night: Dark Days. Scott Spiegel (From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money) will be directing from a screenplay by Michael Weiss (The Butterfly Effect 2). Bloody Disgusting is reporting that the sequel will take the horror franchise to Las Vegas, "where a bachelor party goes horribly wrong." Sounds like a horrible idea (and this is coming from a guy who actually liked the second film in the series). The following comes from an unconfirmed tipster on the IMDb forums: It seems like it's going to ...

Mti Home Video has just released thesupernatural horror film The Shadow Within directed by Silvana Zancolo (La radice del male), on DVD, in case you missed it, yesterday! The film stars Laurence Belcher (Messengers 2: The Scarecrow), Hayley J Williams, and Beth Winslet (Yes, Kate's sister!). Check out the synopsis and trailer:

Propelled by grief over the death of Maurice's twin brother, Jacques, at birth, his mother, Marie, falls under the influence of Madame Armand, who convinces Marie to force her son to act as a medium to the next world. As Jacques asserts himself

through Maurice, he comes to the realization that they both desire the same thing: their parents! love. Only Jacques does not want to return to the living, he wants them all to join him -in the afterlife!...

Apt Films just released this new foreign movie poster for the upcoming biographical drama “Little Ashes” by director Paul Morrison and starring Javier Beltran, Matthew McNulty (Messengers 2: The Scarecrow), Marina Gatell and Robert Pattinson (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) as Salvador Dali. Synopsis: In 1922, Madrid is wavering on the edge of change as traditional values are challenged by the dangerous new influences of Jazz, Freud and the avant-garde. Salvador Dali arrives at the university; 18 years old and determined to become a great artist. His bizarre blend of shyness and rampant exhibitionism attracts the attention of two of the university’s social elite - Federico Garcia Lorca and Luis Bunel. Salvador [...]...

Jack’s list (and he checked it twice) for all those scary films that graced the big screen in 2009.

Best “Scary” Movies:

- Zombieland - The Uninvited - Saw VI - The Last House On The Left - H2 - Friday the 13th - The Butterfly Effect 3 - Boogeyman 3 - The Collector - Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans

Worst “Scary” Movies:

- Whiteout - Sorority Row - Messengers 2: The Scarecrow - Jennifers Body - The Final Destination: FD4 - Feast 3: The Happy Finish - Paranormal Activity - The Cell 2 - Stan Helsing - Vacancy 2: The First Cut

Good but Not Good Enough:

- Amusement - Boogeyman 3 - Laid to Rest - The Burrowers - The Fourth Kind - My Bloody Valentine 3-D - The Grudge 3 - Thirst - Red Velvet - The Unborn

How’s that for a list? Let us know!

Finally after weeks of lacklustre DVD releases, we've got a decent assortment of must-buy discs to gorge on including Zack Snyder's Watchmen (both the theatrical version and the director's cut) and the beautiful stop-motion animated Coraline. There are also some interesting indie releases this week including the superhero comedy Super Capers, the surreal Zach Galifianakis flick Visioneers, and Bruce McDonald's cerebral take on the zombie genre Pontypool (unfortunately, only available in Canada at the moment). In terms of TV, we've got the second and final season of Pushing Daisies, the final season of Prison Break, and all three seasons of the cult British comedy The Mighty Boosh. Is that enough for you? What will you be picking up this week? Watchmen [1] Watchmen: Director's Cut [2] (DVD, Blu-ray [3]) Coraline [4] (DVD, Blu-ray [5]) Pontypool [6] (Canada only) The Great Buck Howard [7] (DVD, Blu-ray [8]) Echelon Conspiracy [9] (DVD, Blu-ray [10]) Visioneers [11] Super Capers [12] The Mystical...

Watchmen Director's Cut

It may not have been exactly what Joel Silver was once scheming up, but Zack Snyder's adaptation is at the top of this week's new release list, with more goodness not included in the theatrical release. Blending new twists with a number of scenes straight out of the book, Watchmen is a film that Peter called "sledgehammer entertainment." Buy it. Also out on Blu-ray. (And big fans will want to also check out the Collector's Corner section for more Watchmen goodness.)

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

Coraline

Coraline slips into another world and finds an alternate version of her life that quickly turns from laughs to frights. Stop-motion animation in 3D, with a kickass female star, all from the mind of Neil Gaiman. In her review, Jette said it "is gorgeously fantastic, in all senses of the word." Buy it. Also on Blu-ray.

Add...

Curious to know what frightful films and devilish discs will be available to view in the privacy of your own digital dungeon this week? Fango's got you covered.

Below the jump you'll find the full list of titles arriving in-stores tomorrow, July 21, 2009 in our weekly version of the famous Fangoria Chopping List - updated with all the last-minute additions and deletions.

Presented with "branching" coverage with trailers, interviews, and reviews for select titles!

Note: Clickable links lead to Amazon.com

Bundy: Lionsgate

Ted Bundy terrorized 1970s America with a cross-country killing spree through seven states that left over 30 dead while terrorizing coed dorms, and escaping from two jails. Aka Bundy: An American Icon.

Starring Kane Hodder (Friday The 13th, Hatchet), Corin Nemec (Ghost Whisperer)

Coraline (DVD, Bd)

Be Careful What You Wish For...

An adventurous girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.

Hey, did you get a chill from the ghosts and poltergeists that menaced Kristen Stewart in The Messengers (before she signed on for a little indie film called Twilight)? You did? Well, then you'll be happy to hear that Messengers 2, which hits DVD next week (on July 21), features an even creepier menace – a scarecrow. Check out an exclusive clip from the film, as well as its trailer, after the jump... and find out just how scary a farming tool can be.

Though it won't star the original's Kristen Stewart (who, we hear, has moved onto another franchise), the prequel to the 2007 sleeper horror hit he Messengers will soon hit DVD. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just told us that they'll release Messengers 2: The Scarecrow on July 21. The film stars Norman Reedus (American Gangster, The Boondock Saints) and Richard Riehle (Office Space, Glory, The Fugitive), and features commentary with director Martin Barnewitz (Room 205) and writer Todd Farmer (My Bloody Valentine). Messengers 2: The Scarecrow will be available for $24.96 Slp. According to Sony's press release, the prequel "goes back to the farm to finally learn the story of John...

Check out the official DVD artwork for the frightening prequel to the $55 million worldwide box office hit The Messengers. “Messengers 2: The Scarecrow” directed by Martin Barnewitz from a screenplay by Todd Farmer and starring Norman Reedus (American Gangster, The Boondock Saints) and Richard Riehle (Office Space, Glory, The Fugitive) debuts on DVD July 21st. Synopsis: The prequel to the box office hit The Messengers goes back to the farm to finally learn the story of John Rollins — the simple North Dakota farmer, struggling to save his farm and hold his family together. When he places a mysterious scarecrow in his field his luck changes for the better…but [...]...

Sony Pictures Home entertainment released a very good look at the cover art for their release of The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow on DVD July 21st, and we've got the skinny for ya!

Synopsis

"The prequel to the box office hit The Messengers goes back to the farm to finally learn the story of John Rollins -- the simple North Dakota farmer, struggling to save his farm and hold his family together. When he places a mysterious scarecrow in his field his luck changes for the better...but it may be at the cost of his sanity."

Messengers 2: The Scarecrow was directed by Martin Barnewitz from a screenplay by Todd Farmer. Andrew Pfeffer served as producer with The Messengers producers, genre favorites Rob Tapert, J.R. Young, William Sherak and Jason Shuman, as executive producers.

The DVD will feature a director and writer commentary. Dig the art below.

- Uncle Creepy

Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!

• Fango got the scoop on the DVD dates for several horror films coming from IFC Films in the next several months. All of these titles either have played or can be seen now via video-on-demand, and they’ll be Blockbuster exclusives before being made available for general retail sales.

The animation omnibus Fear(S) Of The Dark and Christopher Denham’s disturbing family study Home Movie are already in Blockbuster stores, and will hit retail in October. A bunch more have Blockbuster berths only, with no retail slots determined yet: Bruce McDonald’s Pontypool, which just joined the on-demand lineup and opened theatrically in New York today (see review here), hits October 13; Antti-Jussi Annila’s Sauna is coming June 23; Daniel Myrick’s The Objective has been moved from its previous Blockbuster date of July 28 to July 14; Duane Graves and Justin Meeks’ The Wild Man Of The Navidad attacks in August...

Remember The Messengers, the Sam Raimi produced horror flick starring Kristen Stewart? Good because I don't. Nope, never saw it. But hey, now that there's a straight to dvd sequel coming called The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow, I can catch the whole saga together.

Synopsis:

The prequel goes back to the farm to finally learn the story of John Rollins - the simple North Dakota farmer, struggling to save his farm and hold his family together. When he places a mysterious scarecrow in his field his luck changes for the better - but it may be at the cost of his sanity.

Word from Styd is that we can expect the sequel to drop July 21, 2009. The trailer is embedded after the break. Notice how the first half of the trailer features lots of shots of Kristen Stewart to cash in on some of that Twilight fame... 'cause yeah, she's not actually in the sequel.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that it will release Messengers 2: The Scarecrow to DVD July 21. This one’s a prequel from Ghost House Pictures to its theatrical supernatural thriller of a couple of years back, directed by Room 205’s Martin Barnewitz.

My Bloody Valentine’s Todd Farmer scripted; as he revealed here, this screenplay is actually his initial draft for the first Messengers, which got rewritten beyond all recognition by others. It tells the story of North Dakota farmer John Rollins (Blade II’s Norman Reedus), whose struggles to save his farm and family seem to be resolved after he sets up a mysterious scarecrow on the property—but needless to say, the figure has a malevolent side. Matthew McNulty, Claire Holt and Hatchet’s Richard Riehle co-star. The disc will present the movie in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, and include a commentary track by Barnewitz and Farmer.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that it will release Messengers 2: The Scarecrow to DVD July 21. This one’s a prequel from Ghost House Pictures to its theatrical supernatural thriller of a couple of years back, directed by Room 205’s Martin Barnewitz.

My Bloody Valentine’s Todd Farmer scripted; as he revealed here, this screenplay is actually his initial draft for the first Messengers, which got rewritten beyond all recognition by others. It tells the story of North Dakota farmer John Rollins (Blade II’s Norman Reedus), whose struggles to save his farm and family seem to be resolved after he sets up a mysterious scarecrow on the property—but needless to say, the figure has a malevolent side. Matthew McNulty, Claire Holt and Hatchet’s Richard Riehle co-star. The disc will present the movie in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, and include a commentary track by Barnewitz and Farmer.

A year or two ago we broke the news that our friend Todd Farmer (My Bloody Valentine 3D) was working on a prequel to his film The Messengers titled, The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow. Well it is finally headed to DVD on July 21st and you can check out the trailer below. Directed by Martin Barnewitz The Messengers 2 stars Norman Reedus (Scud in Blade II), Matthew McNulty and Claire Holt.

I still have yet to see The Messengers. I hear it was pretty lousy. I even hear that certain people involved in its production wouldn't be too offended if you said it was pretty lousy. I hear lots of things. One thing I did not hear was anyone clamoring for a sequel, let alone a prequel. Producers in Hollywood with better hearing apparently did hear your cries and will reward us all with The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow in July.

The usually reliable website VideoETA has the straight-to-dvd prequel to the 2007 horror flick slotted for a July 21st release. The prequel, scripted by Todd Farmer (Jason X, My Bloody Valentine 3D) and featuring none of the original cast members, revolves around John Rollins - the simple North Dakota farmer from the first film, who struggles to save his farm and hold his family together. After placing a mysterious scarecrow in...

Check out a first looks at “Little Ashes” by director Paul Morrison (Wondrous Oblivion) and starring Robert Pattinson (Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon), Javier Beltran, Matthew McNulty (Messengers 2: The Scarecrow), Arly Jover (Regrets) and Marina Gatell. Synopsis: In 1922, Madrid is wavering on the edge of change as traditional values are challenged by the dangerous new influences of Jazz, Freud and the avant-garde. Salvador Dali arrives at the university; 18 years old and determined to become a great artist. His bizarre blend of shyness and rampant exhibitionism attracts the attention of two of the university’s social elite - Federico Garcia Lorca and Luis Bunel. Salvador is absorbed into their [...]...

Variety reports that Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert’s Ghost House Pictures has picked up the remake rights to a pair of Eurohorror features. The company will produce English-language versions of Bigas Luna’s 1987 Anguish and Martin Barnewitz’s more recent Room 205.

In the Spanish Anguish, a horror movie about a psychopath (Michael Lerner, pictured) who cuts out his victims’ eyes comes to life for a couple of girls watching it in a theater. Jake Wade Wall, who also penned the When A Stranger Calls redux and co-scripted the new Hitcher, has written the updated Anguish, which will be co-produced by Asian redux specialists Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment. A director has yet to be named.

The Danish Room 205, released to U.S. DVD by Ghost House via Lionsgate last year (alongside Ole Bornedal’s The Substitute, also due for Ghost House remaking), centers on a college...

For My Bloody Valentine screenwriters Todd Farmer and Zane Smith, penning a script for a movie to be shot in the latest, most hi-tech version of 3-D yet did not pose any particular challenges. Nor did it call for them to dream up especially imaginative death scenes…at first.

“Certainly not initially,” says Farmer, whose previous credits include 2001’s Jason X and 2007’s The Messengers. “At first, we concentrated on characters and plot, because that’s really what we want to do. I mean, we’re all horror fans, so we’ve seen how some genre films have not pulled these things off. We wanted to tell an intriguing story, we wanted to have intriguing people—that was the first thing.

“But then I would be working on that aspect of it, and I would get a call in the middle of the night from my director,” Farmer continues, glancing over at the man himself,...

The last year has been a busy one for scribe Todd Farmer ( Jason X ). In addition to penning 2009's slasher redo My Bloody Valentine 3D he also hashed out the prequel Messengers 2: The Scarecrow . Next, ShockTillYouDrop.com has learned the writer is developing Devil's Commandos for Thomas Jane ( The Mist ) to star. " Devil's Commandos is a Tim Bradstreet ( The Punisher ) story," Farmer tells us, passing along the artwork below. "Turns out, not only can Timmy draw, his noodle churns out some rockin' ideas. Who knew? But I told him if I wrote the thing he wouldn't get any credit. He'd end up as a footnote somewhere. So I suggested he write it with me. Tom will star and direct in 3-D to follow his Dark Country debut. Plan is to start after Tom...

Since we're on a morning kick updating you on Ghost House Pictures' upcoming direct-to-dvd slate , here's the latest on the follow-up to 2007's The Messengers , Messengers 2: The Scarecrow . Norman Reedus, of Blade II and Masters of Horror: Cigarette Burns , toplines this prequel directed by Martin Barnewitz and written by Todd Farmer ( Jason X , My Bloody Valentine 3D ). The actor is joined by Claire Holt, Richard Riehle ( Hatchet ), Matthew McNulty ( Control ), Heather Stephens, Darcy Flowers and Kalina Green. Reedus plays John Rollins, a North Dakota farmer facing some hardships with his family. When he places a mysterious scarecrow in his field his luck changes for the better...but it may be at the cost of his sanity. Director Barnewitz also helmed Room 205 , a...